Chapter 6

“You can’t give it to him! If we do, what about Tianbao’s school fees?”
Li Chunhua feared Leng Daguai, but she spoiled Leng Tianbao even more!

If anything harmed her youngest son’s interests, Li Chunhua would become like a warrior—willing to fight over anything.

“Hmph, no cut! I wanna buy food again!” Leng Tianbao said with slurred speech.

All the family money was saved for him. Whether he went to school or not didn’t matter—what mattered was having money to buy meat.

“Everyone, look! We’ve worked so hard raising Leng Zhaodi for eighteen years, and now she wants to beat up her own mother and father. Is there no justice left in the world?”
Li Chunhua started playing the sympathy card. “She’s eighteen this year. I kindly found her a family from the city to marry into. Haven’t we treated her well? What else is she dissatisfied with?”

Many villagers didn’t know the man Xu Zhonghong arranged for her was mentally challenged. Hearing only Li Chunhua’s side of the story, some began to chime in:

“Zhaodi, you’re in the wrong here. You’re a young lady already—at this age, your parents find you a city family, you should just listen and get married.”

In the 1970s, rural girls often married early. Many were married off at fifteen or sixteen. At eighteen, Leng Zhaodi was already considered a late-marriage woman.

“Exactly. If life’s not great at home, getting married sooner might even be better for you.”

An auntie who didn’t know the truth offered her “kind advice.”

Leng Xue let out a cold snort. She despised these people who picked sides without knowing the truth.

“If you all think it’s such a blessing, send your own daughters to marry him. Or your nieces. Go ahead and make the match yourselves.”

Before anyone could respond, she strode up to Li Chunhua and asked coldly:

“For just 200 yuan, you tried to marry me off to a mentally disabled man. And you say it’s for my own good? When I refused, you locked me in the woodshed, gave me no food or water, trying to let me die from heat or starvation. That’s attempted murder, do you understand?”

“Don’t talk nonsense! Why would I want to kill you?”
Li Chunhua quickly denied it. That accusation of attempted murder was too serious for her to shoulder.

But the real Leng Zhaodi was already dead. Leng Xue knew this was, without question, murder.

“Whether or not you intended it, what you did was attempted murder.”

Leng Xue continued coldly:
“And as for raising me for eighteen years? I started collecting firewood at three, learned to cook at five, and by six I was working in the fields planting and harvesting rice. Later I earned work points for the family. I basically raised myself.”

Leng Zhaodi barely ate much, and with all the work points she earned over the years, she had long paid back whatever food she consumed.

Leng Zhaodi owed them nothing—but they owed her a life!

“Let me tell you, that family really is sending her to a fool,”
A woman in the crowd finally spoke up. “My cousin’s daughter is only sixteen, and that same family tried to arrange a marriage, but my cousin refused. Who would marry their own daughter off to a fool?”

Someone beside her chimed in, “Exactly! Leng Daguai and Li Chunhua really are blinded by money. I thought Zhaodi was their biological daughter!”

Leng Zhaodi had two older sisters—Laidi and Pandi. When she was born, Leng Daguai didn’t want her and had planned to drown her in a ditch.

At that time, Li Chunhua, having just given birth, still had a trace of motherly affection and stopped him, saying they could raise her and get a bride price later.

That’s the only reason Leng Daguai stopped. A lot of villagers remembered this.

In the early 1960s, when most families couldn’t even feed themselves, killing baby girls wasn’t uncommon. No one even thought about reporting it.

“We should’ve let your father drown you back then!”
Li Chunhua hissed through gritted teeth, her face twisted in anger from the crowd’s criticism.

“Enough with the nonsense, woman! Get the money—I want to go back to the city.”
In front of the whole crowd, having his son called a fool infuriated Xu Zhonghong. He yelled at Li Chunhua.

He didn’t blame Leng Xue—after all, she was a victim. If anyone was to blame, it was Leng Daguai and his wife, who had taken the money without even asking their daughter.

“No! We made a deal! You can’t just go back on it.”
Li Chunhua wouldn’t budge. She stiffened her neck, looking like a pig unafraid of boiling water.

“No cut, no cut, I want eat eat! Let stinky Zhaodi marry silly guy!”
Leng Tianbao, now recovered from the pain, was back to his usual self. He even ran in front of Leng Xue making faces at her.

Leng Xue’s eyes lit up—this was her chance!

In a flash, she grabbed Leng Tianbao by the hair and yanked a fistful of it. Smiling cruelly at Li Chunhua, she said:

“Hand over the money, or I’ll pull out every single hair on your precious son’s head.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”
Li Chunhua roared.

Leng Xue didn’t reply. She just gave a slight tug, and a dozen strands of Tianbao’s hair came out easily—her answer in action.

None of the onlookers, not even the brigade leader, stepped forward to stop her. They all thought Leng Xue was pitiful, and if this was how she could escape the Leng family, then so be it—even if it was a bit extreme.

After all, this was still considered a family matter.

“Ahhh! It hurts!”
Leng Tianbao screamed. Even Leng Daguai couldn’t watch anymore and shouted at Li Chunhua:

“You crazy woman, go get the money!”

Li Chunhua, heartbroken over her son’s suffering, shot a hateful glare at Leng Xue, then reluctantly went into the house and brought out 200 yuan, handing it to Xu Zhonghong.

Once Leng Xue saw him take the money, she pushed the snot-nosed, teary-eyed Tianbao back toward Li Chunhua.

Li Chunhua hugged her son and began comforting him tearfully.

As for Xu Zhonghong, he no longer trusted a single word from the Leng couple. He took the stack of twenty 10-yuan notes and counted them carefully several times.

Then, after a moment of thought, he pulled out one note and handed it to Leng Xue.

“Thanks for today.”

It wasn’t that Xu Zhonghong was generous—a 10-yuan note was equivalent to almost ten days’ wages.

But if it weren’t for Leng Xue today, he never would’ve gotten the 200 yuan back. Besides, he genuinely felt sorry for this girl. Giving her 10 yuan was both a thank you and a small gesture of goodwill.

Leng Xue didn’t refuse. She was planning to sever ties with the family and needed money to start over.

She had a lot of supplies and treasure in her space, but couldn’t use them openly. This ten yuan would help her through the immediate difficulty.

“Thanks,”
She said as she accepted the money.

Xu Zhonghong nodded and rode off on his old black bicycle. After what happened today, he wouldn’t casually find a daughter-in-law for his son again.

At the very least, he’d have to meet the girl and make sure the whole family agrees.

Li Chunhua watched helplessly as the 200 yuan vanished and Leng Xue walked away with 10 yuan in hand. Her eyes turned red, and she lunged forward to snatch the money.

“You little wretch! Give me that money!”

Before she could finish her sentence, a stern voice rang out:

“Li Chunhua, what nonsense are you causing now?”